Another cruise ship arrived in Beloburg, and the group of Alchemists from the Witch Workshop stood at the ship's rail, gazing at the bustling city with expressions of excitement on their faces.

However, among the crowd, only one person had a face full of helplessness and reluctance, looking entirely different from the others.

"Has such a thick barrier already formed between us? When did such a tragic misunderstanding arise between me and my beloved students?" This person lamented in a kind of lyrical tone, simultaneously asking Heine, who kept a hand on her shoulder, "Heine, can't you let me go? After all, I am your teacher, right?"

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that this person was restrained with bindings, an alchemically crafted ribbon firmly wrapped around her body, restricting her movements and also sealing her possibility of escaping through alchemy.

"That's not happening, Teacher Weir. Your words have lost their credibility. The previous times they let you escape three times because they considered the bond between teacher and student. This time, I won't let you slip away no matter what," Heine spoke with a serious face, expressing deep resentment while speaking.

Feeling the resentment from Heine, the teacher named Weir could only give an awkward smile and say no more.

A few months ago, the Witch Workshop had received an invitation from Perfikot, and they planned to visit the Northern Territory after completing their current orders.

However, at the time, someone remarked that their alchemical skills were insufficient, and even if they went to the Northern Territory, it would be hard to gain Perfikot's attention. If they could bring back the former Sect Leader of the Witch Workshop, perhaps they could impress Perfikot with the former Sect Leader's formidable alchemical prowess.

Even though the former Sect Leader of the Witch Workshop always appeared lazy and unreliable, Heine, as her disciple, knew that her teacher was not always this way.

Once hailed as the Crystal Sage, Weir was the Empire's most outstanding Alchemist at the time, and alongside the former Aries of the Magic Association, Endymion, and the former Head of the Royal Astronomical Society, Crowley, they were known as the Empire's Three Sages.

However, due to an accident, Weir, then known as Sanderion, suffered a backlash from magic, reverting her body to a childlike state, even drastically changing her personality.

What exactly happened back then was something Heine wasn't clear about; she only knew that since then, the Empire's Mages began to decline, and the Astrologers of the Astronomical Society seemed to lose their ability to glimpse the future.

Only alchemy was the least affected, allowing today's Empire's alchemists to continue thriving.

But even so, the alchemy available to today's alchemists is still significantly different from back then.

It is easy to imagine how powerful the Crystal Sage was in those days, and such a powerful Alchemist would surely have many brilliant exchanges with Master Brandelis, right?

That's what Heine thought, and that's what she hoped.

To her, in this way, the Witch Workshop could have a good start in the Northern Territory. It would be worth the time and effort she and others invested in capturing the teacher and those who spent over a month playing escape games with her.

Yes, as the teacher and former Sect Leader of the Witch Workshop, Weir had long passed on the workshop to Heine, while she herself hid away to enjoy leisure.

But this time Heine brought others to find her and brought her back to the workshop.

This undoubtedly made Weir very unhappy, so after being brought back, she sought opportunities to slip away again. After all, these were the students she taught, who wouldn't know their own students? Heine's arrangements couldn't trap Weir.

However, Heine clearly anticipated Weir's maneuvers. After all, as Weir said, they were mentor and disciple, who wouldn't know whom?

Thus, Weir, who escaped, hadn't even reached Langton before Heine brought people to capture her and bring her back.

Both sides went back and forth several times, and in the end, having no other means, Heine used her best alchemical methods to bind Weir, finally managing to bring her to the Northern Territory.

But even so, Weir still wanted to escape.

It's not that she had any objections to Perfikot or was unwilling to help her students; she was simply afraid of trouble and didn't want to deal with the Empire's alchemists anymore.

The incident back then not only caused her body to permanently regress to a youthful state but also greatly affected the Empire's Extraordinary individuals, especially since there was also another person affiliated with them, a person whose very existence was erased.

This shows how severe the consequences of that accident were back then.

Out of the four individuals involved in that event, one was erased permanently, and the remaining three each had their troubles.

The former Crystal Sage's troubles, in addition to her bodily regression, included spiritual trauma, which was why she always seemed so lethargic.

Apart from her nature, an essential aspect is that she needed prolonged rest to heal the damage to her soul.

But the ever-insufficient measure brought little progress despite her efforts, only maintaining her state from deteriorating further.

Such as she was, there was naturally no way she could assume any roles within the Alchemy Association, just as her two old friends had laid down their duties. Sanderion also chose to pass the position of Alchemy Association President to another while she hid to establish the Witch Workshop, casually instructing a few students, and essentially retiring.

But her actions had caused considerable disturbances within the Alchemy Association back then, just like Heine now had to take over the Witch Workshop.

So much that even to this day, the Alchemy Association continues to search for her, hoping she could return to lead the Alchemy Association again.

And the trouble-averse Weir naturally didn't want to involve herself in all those troubles again, thus the impulse to flee once more.

However, she wasn't completely unreasonable, and after several failed attempts to escape, she resigned to the journey to the Northern Territory, only hoping that Perfikot, being too young, wouldn't recognize her as the former president of the Alchemy Association, thereby avoiding further complications.

Of course, aside from resignation, Weir hadn't entirely dismissed the hope that Perfikot's Philosopher's Stone might solve her problems.

After all, one of the most well-known functions of the Philosopher's Stone is to create the Elixir of Life, granting immortality.

Weir was keen to discover whether the Philosopher's Stone could resolve her issues.

This was exactly why she gave up escaping and allowed Heine to bring her to the Northern Territory.

Otherwise, even with her body regressed to a childlike state and significantly reduced abilities, if she wanted to escape Heine's restraints as the once Crystal Sage, it would be relatively simple.

After all, Heine was taught by her, and how wouldn't she know how to undo the restraints Heine imposed?

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